


Sunlight

by thebriars



Series: celestial [1]
Category: Victoria ITV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops and Cafes, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Flirting, M/M, Meet-Cute, Really just fluff, These dorks, Very fluffy, actually I lied there's angst too, but it's small I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 18:37:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13909866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebriars/pseuds/thebriars
Summary: The cafe seemed appealing enough. Brightly colored flowers in the doorway, neat calligraphy clings in the windows, and an overall tidy and welcoming aura. Edward shook down the sleeve of his coat to check the time and deemed the cafe a reasonable detour before his dinner with Florence.---A forced afternoon off leads to a spontaneous cup of coffee and a long chat with a stranger.





	Sunlight

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote fluff yay
> 
> thanks to my beta, who I'll call Otter, for suffering through economics and episode 8 with me

The cafe seemed appealing enough. Brightly colored flowers in the doorway, neat calligraphy clings in the windows, and an overall tidy and welcoming aura. Edward shook down the sleeve of his coat to check the time and deemed the cafe a reasonable detour before his dinner with Florence.

Peel had given Edward the afternoon off, citing the 'dead look' in his eyes. Despite Edward's protests, (and no one could deny that they were valiant), Peel had shoved him out of the office.

The sunlight was startling- Edward took the Tube to work, and the station was just across the street from the office building, and he nearly always made the walk from his apartment to the station is either dusk or dawn. He was an early riser and liked to get reports on Peel's desk quickly. All combined, Edward felt as though he rarely ventured into the sun anymore. It did feel wonderful. He sent a longing glance out at the sky before pushing into the cafe, knowing he needed the caffeine if he wanted to function like an actual human that evening.

A cheery bell startled him from his reverie, sending Edward into an internal debate on the merits of these doorbells. Useful for workers but embarrassing as hell (for some odd reason) for everyone else.

The small and bouncy woman at the counter, besides practically giving Edward raptures from the sheer amount of energy radiating from her, made an excellent coffee. He found a seat in a quiet corner and pulled out his laptop, giving in to the pressure of work.

Edward's mind wandered to Florence, as it often did. He was partially thankful for this, because he could easily play off his occasional distracted gaze as love (ugh), but it also made him want to curl up in bed and ignore everything for a while.

Perhaps Peel could give him a week off, but without someone actually interesting to help him take his mind off things, he'd spiral back into _work and Florence and Dad, work and Florence and Dad._

It's not as though he wasn't attracted to her. No, Florence was quite beautiful, reasonably intelligent and easily adaptable, but she was downright boring. Edward couldn't keep a conversation with her, no matter how hard he tried. But the cloud of lust only remained thick enough to forget such traits for so long, and the haze had long since dissipated.

Edward didn't particularly want to break up, however. It was a hassle and a familial scandal that he'd dealt with before and hoped to avoid for, oh, the rest of existence.

Existence was a long time to spend with Florence, though.

He needed motivation.

\--

Motivation came around ten minutes later, at the top of the hour, when shifts changed at the counter. The happy woman, whose name tag read Victoria, switched with a short young man.

Edward quickly looked back at his laptop and pressed his lips into a tight line to stop himself from doing anything stupid.

But, God, was this guy _cute_. Wide blue eyes and messy blond hair, an air of confidence and an attractive smile.

The decision came roughly five minutes later, after much hemming and hawing on Edwards part. He needed a new cup of coffee.

"Refill?" The guy had a nice voice: lilting and naturally sarcastic, as if everything seemed vaguely hilarious to him.

"Please." Edward pushed his cup across the counter and the guy- Alfred, his name tag read- grinned.

"School or work?" Alfred flipped on the machine and leaned against the counter on his elbow, blue eyes tracing over Edward's face. For most, it would have been cheesy at best and horribly embarrassing at worst, but with Alfred it seemed casual and seductive.

"Huh?" Edward flashed a confused smile, making Alfred laugh. It was a beautiful laugh.

"You're on your second cup of coffee and you look like you've been staring into the void. I'd say school, but nobody wears suits to school."

Edward snorted a bit, and then instantly regretted it. "Yeah, work. My boss made me take the afternoon off, but I really don't know what else to do, so here we are." A little shrug and another laugh from Alfred.

"I completely understand. I'm working on my degree and it's... it's a lot of sleepless nights." Alfred trailed off, watching a girl tug her dog along the sidewalk with persistence. He shook himself and turned back to the coffee, which had long since been full. He winced and apologized for letting it run over, which Edward quickly assured him was fine.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment, Edward's hands wrapped tight around the mug, and Alfred looked like he was holding in a sigh.

"Actually, I should take a break. Do you mind if I... hang out over here?"

Alfred grinned. "Of course not. You seem a lot more interesting than my coworkers."

A vague _"Hey!"_ came from the back room, which Edward supposed was Victoria, but he took a careful seat at the counter nevertheless.

\--

Time passed quickly through the afternoon, Alfred speaking of his family and his work and his school with excited ease, his thrilling personality seeping through every word. Edward simply listened, hanging on every word, smiling and laughing and sighing when appropriate. He nursed his coffee, watching Alfred with intrigue whenever a customer approached the counter.

His college roommate had told him once that the only real way to know someone is to see them at their worst. To see them when they're drunk or angry or sad or frustrated. To see them caught in a storm or lost or with a flat tire. To see them with an annoying boss or pushy customer.

Florence became sullen, became loud, became snappy. Edward never liked it much, but with Alfred? The way he dealt with grumpy old men and shy teenagers and a rambunctious child and her exhausted mother was perfect.

He found himself ignoring the passing time and latching on to Alfred's beautiful eyes and his laugh.

"I've talked enough. Tell me about you. I don't even know your name." Alfred rested his chin on his hand and smiled up at Edward.

"Ah, well, I'm Edward. I'm the prime minister's secretary and I like poetry... God, that's really it. I have a sister, and a sort-of girlfriend named Florence."

There was a strange hitch in Alfred's voice when he asked for Edward to elaborate on that.

And so Edward found himself talking about how suffocating it all seemed lately. He poured his heart out and spread every last card, leaving them plain on the counter for Alfred to study.

Alfred was a good listener. He let Edward talk himself into a ditch and then offered him advice. Actual, solid advice.

"Honestly, if you don't like her much, don't date her," he said, tapping lightly on the counter.

What a simple answer to a complicated question. Edward nearly laughed. "God, I wish, but my dad's pushy. Besides, I'm not... out."

Alfred's brows rose a bit, but it wasn't shock on his face. Rather, it was an undefined mix of relief and hope and something Edward couldn't find the word for.

"That's not going to be a problem, right?" Edward fidgeted with his sleeves and glanced down.

"No, no, of course not." Alfred reached up to rub the heel of his palm against the back of his neck, which Edward had begun to see was an endearing nervous tick of his. "I mean, I'm pretty into the guys myself, so there's that."

Something inside of Edward purred low and happy in his chest, curling tight and contented to settle again in his heart. A little dragon, of sorts.

Alfred was distracted by the changing time. He glanced apologetically at Edward. "Shift's over and I have class."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm meeting Florence soon too."

Once again, they stood in awkward silence, trying to ignore the undeniable pull to stay. Edward felt as though it would be a sin to go.

A hand captured his from across the counter, and though there was really no other option, he was surprised to see that it was Alfred's.

"Listen, you should tell her tonight, if ever. The longer you wait, the harder it will be."

Edward nodded, eyes caught in Alfred's, and then the hand was gone and the moment of clarity was over.

"I never paid for that refill." It was a sad grasp at straws, trying to find an excuse.

"It's on the house; no worries."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

\--

It was on the sidewalk, caught in the sunset, that Edward looked over his shoulder and saw him there, glowing. Big blue eyes found his.

He walked home in the sun.

**Author's Note:**

> well? I don't write fluff much and it usually becomes Too Fluffy, so let me know how this turned out! (also, sequel from Alfred's POV?)
> 
> \--- 
> 
> I may be ace but I'm a hoe for comments <3


End file.
